Four feared dead after trawler capsizes in East China Sea

Four people have gone missing and are feared to have died after a fishing vessel capsized in bad weather in the East China Sea on Thursday, December 5.

The incident occurred at around 06:43 local time of Thursday when the 46-metre trawler Min Shi Yu 07705 was struck by strong winds and three-metre-high waves near Gulai Peninsula in Fujian province.

At approximately 07:03, the Fujian branch of the China Maritime Safety Administration (CMSA) despatched search and rescue (SAR) vessels and helicopters to render assistance. However, the distressed trawler was not found until around noon when a CMSA helicopter spotted it having drifted a considerable distance from where it had capsized earlier in the day.

A total of 13 of Min Shi Yu 07705‘s crew were found sitting on the keel of their overturned vessel by the time a helicopter and three other fishing boats in the area arrived to evacuate them.

Search operations are ongoing for any trace of the trawler’s four other crewmembers who went missing during the incident.